French christmas food shopping and more christmas decor

One of the things I enjoy the most about preparing for Christmas is planning the menus and buying all the 'special' things that we don't buy year round.

The two biggest and most traditional meals will be dinner on Christmas Eve, and lunch on Christmas Day.  While there are no hard and fast rules about what to serve on Christmas Day, we tend to follow traditions for dinner on the 24th.   This means a succession of courses, enjoyed in small portions with complimentary wines and champagne.

Typically the meal on the 24th will include oysters, smoked salmon, foie gras, cheese, desserts, possibly a paté en croute so I get to run around!

For our Christmas Day bird, which will probably be a goose this year, I head to the local farm and reserve the bird, to be collected on the 22nd or 23rd.  Many farms in France sell directly to local clients, this generally happens in a barn or outbuilding and despite the old fashioned appearance, sales are strictly regulated and the produce fresh and best quality.

The same farm will also sell their own foie gras, either  already cooked and ready to serve or - if I'm feeling like a saint ! - fresh for me to prepare at home.

 Oysters are best bought at a local market or fishmongers on the 24th.  Some people buy them already opened, my husband is a dab hand at the job, so we put in an order and collect them during the day.  There is a choice of size and source, we mostly buy oysters farmed in the Mediterranean at this time of year.

Chestnuts are vital for a French Christmas.  many people serve them hot with the roast turkey, or enjoy them candied with dessert.

 Most often I buy these tins of creamed chestnuts and make chestnut and chocolate ice cream desserts - totally yummy!  In fact if you like I'll give you that recipe later this week.

Cheese is always an option for a fine French meal; personally for this meal,  I find it a step too far for what is already a rich menu, so we prefer to keep the cheese for Christmas lunch.

What we won't skip however is a chocolate or two with our coffee.  I'll buy ours from local chocolate makers or our bakers who have an excellent home made range. If I were shopping in Paris, I'd head to La Maison du Chocolat and buy works of art such as these!

I promised you a Christmas decoration update, and yes, the tree is trimmed and lit and the door wreath finished but you know what?  today the sun is not shining but positively d-a-z-z-l-i-n-g and my Christmas stuff just doesn't look right in blazing sunlight so you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the pictures - I'm sorry, let's put it down to artistic license.  All I can offer you are these shots of a little vignette on the fire place, taken with the curtains drawn I may add!

Hope your week is getting off to a good start.
Thank you for reading me.

un dejeuner sur l'herbe

Happy images from a great day spent in the garden.

This summer has brought us many visits from blogging friends, and today we caught up with Slavica and Jason of Seductively French.    We were blessed with amazing sunshine, happy children, and hopefully good food.  A great time was had by all.  The only thing working against us - the clock!!  Next time we'll take longer .   

Hope you are all enjoying a great weekend with family and friends.

southern French hospitality

I like this picture taken in August in the South of France.  We came across this charming restaurant after having stocked up at the local market.  Lunch wasn't exactly planned, it just happened, that 's what holidays are for, after all. 

I loved the gates wide open, the natural invitation to walk in, settle down and enjoy.  The trees are lush, the gravel raked smooth.  May not be my favourite colours for the table scapes, but in this setting they worked.

Southern French hospitality, good simple food in a pretty setting, served with a smile!

French cuisine - at school

Do you remember what your school lunches used to be like?

  I do,  .....  you don't want the details!

As children in France return to school this week, there is inevitably much talk about the quality of school meals:  how well balanced they are; the portion size, the choice of dishes  - excuse me! .... the choice? !!! 

Yup, children at French primary schools take for granted their bright friendly canteens, the well balanced menus with choices for first course , main course, cheese and dessert!

Schools regularly have 'tasting' weeks or theme days, where children are encouraged to try small portions of new flavours; to tell the difference between regional cheeses or to understand why wholemeal bread doesn't look the same as white baguette.

They also find it normal that every French child in primary education takes a napkin to  school, generally in a hand-sewn napkin bag.  Clean one into school on Monday morning, home to be laundered on  Friday afternoon.  Child's name on the napkin and on the napkin bag.  Motherly pride can get slightly out of hand on this one, and some of the personalised napkin holders would make Martha Stewart look like an amateur.

The school are also meant to display the menus for the coming week,  and you often see parents pausing to study the chart as they drop their offspring at school for the day. 

 

What  happy days the primary school age brings, when the most they have

to worry about is what they get for lunch!

buying French groceries

There is simply no comparison between buying your groceries in a supermarket and buying them fresh from an open air market - especially when the sun is shining, the air smells good and all the summer fruits are out on show.

I always return from the weekly market with a spring in my step - stimulated by the beautiful colours, the gentle bustle and the friendly banter between vendors and clients.

Clients dress nicely to go shopping, they often meet up with old friends, share a coffee on the market square, their overfilled baskets sitting at their feet.

In France, when you go to le marché, you know you will find good quality produce, fresh, often sold by the producer directly.  

For the vendors - who work hard on their farm all week -  it's a highlight too, not only do they make some money, they also interact with their clients and catch up on the latest news and gossip in town.

Freshly roasted chicken  yummmm!  soooo difficult to resist when you're already hungry for lunch!

I love the way that in the middle of the fruit and vegetables you'll find hats, baskets, saucepans and even fabric.

Clients are encouraged to taste, and often extra pieces of fruit, or bunches of parsley are added to the basket.  I know this is  a commercial gesture , but I always think the vendor looks like a n artist putting the finishing touch to a work of art, as he offers a lemon or a bunch of herbs.

So now you know one of my remedies for feeling lazy or energy-less
- a trip to a local market.  100% guaranteed result.

ce mercredi je mange ... des madeleines!

I've been finding beautiful old madeleine baking moulds for the store, and it's filled me with a longing for sweet buttery madeleine cakes.  

If you haven't tried these, you may like to attempt this recipe from Epicrious that I have found very successful.

• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightl
• Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter and flour the baking tin, especially designed for madeleines.   Using a mixer, beat eggs and 2/3 cup sugar in a  large bowl.   Beat in vanilla, lemon peel and salt. Add flour; beat just until blended. Gradually add cooled melted butter in steady stream, beating just until blended.

Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each indentation in pan. Bake until puffed and brown, about 16 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently remove from pan. Repeat process, buttering and flouring pan before each batch. (Can be made 1 day ahead.)

Dust madeleines with powdered sugar. 

Tomorrow I'll be announcing reductions of a large selection of monogrammed linens!

ce mercredi je mange ... a cherry clafoutis

Our very warm spring means that this is a G-R-E-A-T year for cherries and we have been picking and cooking and baking!

Le clafoutis (pronounced klafooty) is one of France's most traditional and timeless family desserts.  I had always liked clafoutis, but when I found this recipe by Alain Ducasse I immediately became a fan!   Instead of the traditional and rather heavy batter mix, he mixes an almond cream with a crème patissière - and how could that be a bad idea?!

So if you want to add a particularly French touch to your next family lunch or dinner, here's one way to go.

Pick a basket of cherries, preferably a variety that is slightly acid in taste.  If you wish you can wash them,  but make sure they are dried well after.   If you are feeling like a saint you can pit them, I personally feel that life is too short for that, so I use the cherries whole and warn my guests when serving, assuring them at the same time that the cherry stones add a particularly delish flavour to the dessert .....

Cover the base of your favourite oven proof tart mould with the cherries.

Make the crème patissière by whisking together 100 grams (less than 1 cup) of sugar, a teaspoon full of cornflour and 3/4 egg yolks.  Heat 25cl milk and , once it has boiled, pour the milk over the sugar and egg yolk mix.  Beat well then return to the pan, stirring over a gently heat until the crème begins to thicken.

Separately mix together in a mixer 100 g 3/4 cup of ground almonds, 100 g butter 1/2 cup and 100 of sugar, plus a teaspoon of cornflour and an egg.  (sorry I forgot to take pictures of these steps - there was a lot going on at the time!)

When everything is well mixed then pour the crème patissière over the almond cream and blend together thoroughly.  Pour over the cherries and pop into the oven AT 180°.

About 30 minutes later you can remove the clafoutis from the oven and it will look a lot like this.  It's not the easiest dessert to serve in clean slices but I promise that improves as it cools.

Bon appetit!

my education - in cheese!

When I was a young student, lucky enough to find myself on the Cote d'Azur for  a year and enjoying my tiny little flat on avenue Shakespeare in Nice, I used to love shopping at a nearby street market.  As a single girl I didn't need much of a food budget, but I wanted to know more about French cheese.

And there began my education!   A fromager on the market decided to remedy .....

He led me through the goats cheese of the South of France, the full flavours of the Auvergne, the soft texture of a good Brie, and explained the difference between a Bleu d'Auvergne and a good Roquefort.  All that is normally leant in everyday French family life.  Wonderful!